Interest Factor in football these days almost dead

[jazza 1,323]

Have you still got the lace up jumper and little cap OD?

and knickerbockers.

[dee-luded 2,958]

Yeah but we may not have a club any more if we the people desert it.

more likely the AFL will wake up quick smart.

attendances are falling, & viewing numbers too, across most teams I believe.

[Dr. Gonzo 22,691]

no its not, for me because i've adopted second sides along the journey to be interested in watching their games. the Hawks & Lions in recent times, & more lately the Cats.

but now with all the ground covered from this end to that, I can't stand it with the highlights lost & just a rolling pack of players in no given position & no matchups to look forward to.

this game in 'nothing', on the game that was, all the way up to around 2004.

the running is killing it.

Do you think the game could revert back to a skill/position based game if the interchange bench were removed and we just had 3 or 4 subs? This, along with removing players from the field (2, 4 or even 6) is the only way I see the game being able to revert to something akin to what it was. However there is also the possibility that with less players able to run up and down the field all day coaches will produce an even more defensive game style turning it towards a soccer style game trying to prevent the other team from scoring first and foremost and trying to kick a couple of goals on fast breaks (almost how it is now).

[Bonkers 918]

With a rigged fixture for attendances & TV consumption, corrupt administrators of the game as well as certain clubs, the tanking fiasco & systematic doping system at Essendon, draft consessions to start up teams & the overall thirst of the AFL for the almighty dollar it's no wonder people are beginning to see the AFL for what it really is.

[Dr. Gonzo 22,691]

With a rigged fixture for attendances & TV consumption, corrupt administrators of the game as well as certain clubs, the tanking fiasco & systematic doping system at Essendon, draft consessions to start up teams & the overall thirst of the AFL for the almighty dollar it's no wonder people are beginning to see the AFL for what it really is.

Yeah it's the cumulation of all these things which could see the AFL jump the shark. It's a professional sport so fair enough there has to be a business aspect to it but you can't sacrifice the integrity of the competition for the $$$'s otherwise people will swicth off.

[DeeVoted 582]

Talking to a usual pessimistic Melbourne supporter older doctor at work on Friday, he surprised me by telling me he genuinely believes we will be heaps better in the second part of the season. I respect his judgement so am going to hang on that glimmer of hope.

I hope he is right. But I've been doing this for longer than I care to remember. It wont be long before I wont be able to remember. The next of the year will be better, then its next year we will be right, Before you know it 6 yrs later I still wait.

[monoccular 16,513]

I am no longer angry - sad and uninterested.

[DeeVoted 582]

Do you think the game could revert back to a skill/position based game if the interchange bench were removed and we just had 3 or 4 subs? This, along with removing players from the field (2, 4 or even 6) is the only way I see the game being able to revert to something akin to what it was. However there is also the possibility that with less players able to run up and down the field all day coaches will produce an even more defensive game style turning it towards a soccer style game trying to prevent the other team from scoring first and foremost and trying to kick a couple of goals on fast breaks (almost how it is now).

Its nice to know not just you, but it seems like most of us have the same opinion. I used to go week in week out rain hail or shine to watch the 2nds,then look forward to Robbie playing on Keith Greig, Biffen on Hudson. Barassi on Harrison. And numerous others. It was the matchups that made the game more attractive, could Greig beat Flower, if not Melbourne would be a chance of a win,along with the other matchups all over the ground. The scuffles off the ball, man on man. one trying to get the better of his opposite opponent. Hughes on Lockett, hoping Lockett wouldnt tear him a near one. In the 70's we were crap, but the players didn't need to be spoon feed on how to play. They were told how to stop their opponent,theres a difference.

Now there are 36 players all up one end of the ground, maybe I'm just getting to old for change. But listening to the games on the radio just isnt as good any more. I'll all for improvements, but I fail to see any to keep me interested.

Of course winning glosses over all these faults that have been posted. Who really gives a rats when you are winning. But the way the game has envolved over the last 5 years or so hasnt helped me get exicted on most of the changes to the game.

[dee-luded 2,958]

Do you think the game could revert back to a skill/position based game if the interchange bench were removed and we just had 3 or 4 subs? This, along with removing players from the field (2, 4 or even 6) is the only way I see the game being able to revert to something akin to what it was. However there is also the possibility that with less players able to run up and down the field all day coaches will produce an even more defensive game style turning it towards a soccer style game trying to prevent the other team from scoring first and foremost and trying to kick a couple of goals on fast breaks (almost how it is now).

why do you have to imagine the polar 180* opposite idea?

its not going bacl all the way that i envisage. but to make it more as it was that the players do fatigue as they did back 10 years ago, with not enough rotations to maintain this numbers around the ball...

I don't mind the occasional pack situation but not for every bloody stoppage.

I don' want to see an offside rule brought in, or even more NEW rules invented , but just to return the game back to where it came from not so long ago.

The only difference now is the players ability to run further thru a combination of sports science, full-time training with professional fitness staff, & medical care.

So to bring back the character of this once mighty game, is to make it harder for the players to cover the whole ground. via smaller interchange with extra Subs:... then the players won't be able to run as much.

They will have to gain more power, & cover less kilometers. So positional play will return in part.

[dee-luded 2,958]

Its nice to know not just you, but it seems like most of us have the same opinion. I used to go week in week out rain hail or shine to watch the 2nds,then look forward to Robbie playing on Keith Greig, Biffen on Hudson. Barassi on Harrison. And numerous others. It was the matchups that made the game more attractive, could Greig beat Flower, if not Melbourne would be a chance of a win,along with the other matchups all over the ground. The scuffles off the ball, man on man. one trying to get the better of his opposite opponent. Hughes on Lockett, hoping Lockett wouldnt tear him a near one. In the 70's we were crap, but the players didn't need to be spoon feed on how to play. They were told how to stop their opponent,theres a difference.

Now there are 36 players all up one end of the ground, maybe I'm just getting to old for change. But listening to the games on the radio just isnt as good any more. I'll all for improvements, but I fail to see any to keep me interested.

Of course winning glosses over all these faults that have been posted. Who really gives a rats when you are winning. But the way the game has envolved over the last 5 years or so hasnt helped me get exicted on most of the changes to the game.

I remember going to Waverley to see a Vics v WA game with my Sainters mates. I think Barassi was coaching, & Robbie Flower was named on the wing to take on Brian Peake.

it was a build up for my excitement to watch this match-up apart from the game so it was possible to come away with enjoyment even in a loss.

Robbie toweled Peake up & the Vics won, I think.

the game was very enjoyable & you could choose your location to sit. first in, best dressed.

In those days the game was exciting enough to stand in the rain & still enjoy it. & cuing up for a hotdog was worth the wait.

[jnrmac 19,399]

I'm done. Been great guys. Not torturing myself any more.

[Tony Tea 2,792]

I really struggle to put the current situation into words.

One one hand, if Melbourne had its supporters at heart, it would fold and give us shattered fans a chance to get a life without footy.

On the other hand, if Melbourne folded I would be more shattered. Every time I saw a footy report on the news, listened to a conversation about footy, caught a snatch of talk back, had someone offer sympathy, or just had a passing memory would be like a knife in the guts.

The current fiasco may well be draining my interest in footy, but while there's life there's hope.

[Tony Tea 2,792]

Sn@tch is censored?!?

[baysidedave 246]

l watch other teams and am totally jealous of their supporters getting to watch a team that has a chance of at least winning, watching their players actually put in for 100 minutes. We as supporters of the MFC don't get ANY enjoyment out of watching our pathetically woeful team week in week out.AAARRRRRGGHH l [censored] hate it

[The heart beats true 16,550]

The footy ain't that bad. Gary Ablett Jnr is probably going to be remembered as the greatest player to ever play, Cyril is a freak, Selwood better get a good highlight reel as he'll probably not remember any of the great things he does every week, and a champion team consistently beats a team of champions (still!). The game is changing and has faced some really tough times recently but it's not the doom and gloom you guys are feeling.

The reason it feels the way it does is because our avenue to the heart of the game is a club that is really, really bad at the moment. My biggest frustration with the game is that the AFL needed to act last year and give our footy club some priority picks so that we could go to the footy and watch the future take shape, just like GWS and GCS have. They chose not to so because a previous administration made bad choices, but that sort of thinking ignores the most obvious fact:

Cameron Schwab moved onto a new job. Chris Connelly moved onto a new job. This is their career. But for me and all of you this is our passion, and by trying to punish people who already moved on all they did was suck the hope out of the patrons of the game.

You can bet they regret that decision already, and it's their job to now right the wrong and help give us a future. It's one thing for Eddie to complain that because of Melbourne's history we shouldn't get priority picks, but he'll feel differently when 35,000 less people turn up for our Collingwood game and it costs them a potential extra million. Equalisation in terms of footy expenditure is a distraction designed to draw our focus off the things we actually watch week in week out - the glaring disparity on field.

We need picks.

[old dee 23,118]

Yeah but we may not have a club any more if we the people desert it.

That is not the worst thing that could happen to you jnr

[lucifer 119]

Here's the thing - I watch on this site as people who say "they have had enough" are consistently told to go jump and follow another team by people on here.

I am a mid 20's guy, but I am so sick to death of expecting the fact that this team is going nowhere. Every year we have had a justification, first it was Daniher, then it was the Bailey got rid of Bruce, Junior and Green, then it was Bailey himself, then it was Neeld was too harsh and traded for crap players (which incidentally I agree with). The we got Roos and all of a sudden everyone (myself included) thought that everything was going to change and change dramatically. The fact is, is that the expansion clubs came in, and for an already established club, this was the worst time that you could possibly be on the bottom. The draft concessions, the min-draft, trading top picks all went so far as to make the mission for us even more impossible - how can a team on the bottom compete with that? I was impressed with what Roos did in the off season, and I still think that the acquisition of Tyson, Cross, Vince and even Michie was a good move. My problem, is that the development of the players that was supposed to have occurred with our drafted players, I'm talking, Trengove, Tapscott, Blease, Strauss, Gawn, Watts, even Tom McDonald and Jack Grimes who still can't kick, hasn't. There has been zero player development since Melbourne last played finals. Hopefully Roos and co can fix this, but the solution won't be short term. It pains me to write that, to acknowledge that, but that is reality. It doesn't mean we should except mediocre efforts, or players with no skills.

I'm not sure if anyone else agrees with me, but do you think Morton, Gysberts, Cook, etc would have been decent players had then been drafter to other clubs who have had no such issues with player development? I'm not sure they would have all been a success, but perhaps they might have gotten SOMETHING out of the picks they had. I don't know, it's hard to put in writing what I feel right now, because I would love nothing more than to see some improvement. How much emphasis can we put on the Neeld era? It's fair to say, Neeld really buggered up the confidence of our players, and didn't develop anyone.

I sincerely hope that the following players are dropped for next week. Some might be harsh, but I think we are at a point where it is time to find out if Toumpas can play, if Strauss, Blease, Trengove, Tapscott, Clisby etc can play. I think that Terlich (how often does he turn it over and get caught?) Matt Jones, Shannon Byrnes, Rohan Bail need to be dropped. I know wholesale changes are never really looked upon favourably, but what's the difference? Surely we can't do any worse - we just got beaten by GWS (again).

Does anyone know the prognosis on Gawn, Dawes, Garland etc? Really frustrated supporter here, who realistically looks forward to seeing the Casey results every weekend, and dreaming that someone down there might make a difference.

[dees189227 11,167]

Footy for me now is just a day out now. I paid my membership so I will attend games but I will just watch it and not get caught up as much as I used to.

[Bitter but optimistic 21,560]

Here's the thing - I watch on this site as people who say "they have had enough" are consistently told to go jump and follow another team by people on here.

I am a mid 20's guy, but I am so sick to death of expecting the fact that this team is going nowhere. Every year we have had a justification, first it was Daniher, then it was the Bailey got rid of Bruce, Junior and Green, then it was Bailey himself, then it was Neeld was too harsh and traded for crap players (which incidentally I agree with). The we got Roos and all of a sudden everyone (myself included) thought that everything was going to change and change dramatically. The fact is, is that the expansion clubs came in, and for an already established club, this was the worst time that you could possibly be on the bottom. The draft concessions, the min-draft, trading top picks all went so far as to make the mission for us even more impossible - how can a team on the bottom compete with that? I was impressed with what Roos did in the off season, and I still think that the acquisition of Tyson, Cross, Vince and even Michie was a good move. My problem, is that the development of the players that was supposed to have occurred with our drafted players, I'm talking, Trengove, Tapscott, Blease, Strauss, Gawn, Watts, even Tom McDonald and Jack Grimes who still can't kick, hasn't. There has been zero player development since Melbourne last played finals. Hopefully Roos and co can fix this, but the solution won't be short term. It pains me to write that, to acknowledge that, but that is reality. It doesn't mean we should except mediocre efforts, or players with no skills.

I'm not sure if anyone else agrees with me, but do you think Morton, Gysberts, Cook, etc would have been decent players had then been drafter to other clubs who have had no such issues with player development? I'm not sure they would have all been a success, but perhaps they might have gotten SOMETHING out of the picks they had. I don't know, it's hard to put in writing what I feel right now, because I would love nothing more than to see some improvement. How much emphasis can we put on the Neeld era? It's fair to say, Neeld really buggered up the confidence of our players, and didn't develop anyone.

I sincerely hope that the following players are dropped for next week. Some might be harsh, but I think we are at a point where it is time to find out if Toumpas can play, if Strauss, Blease, Trengove, Tapscott, Clisby etc can play. I think that Terlich (how often does he turn it over and get caught?) Matt Jones, Shannon Byrnes, Rohan Bail need to be dropped. I know wholesale changes are never really looked upon favourably, but what's the difference? Surely we can't do any worse - we just got beaten by GWS (again).

Does anyone know the prognosis on Gawn, Dawes, Garland etc? Really frustrated supporter here, who realistically looks forward to seeing the Casey results every weekend, and dreaming that someone down there might make a difference.

Prepare yourself for many years of pain young man! If you need analgesics, PM Biffen.

[jnrmac 19,399]

That is not the worst thing that could happen to you jnr

Not at the moment OD. Thats true.

But I want some sports passion in my life. I was thrilled when Daniel Ricciardo came 2nd in the Melb grand prix. I was thrilled when Adam Scott won the masters. I was thrilled when my kids won their GFs.

The MFC have given me nothing but hurt and heartache of the 8th yr in a row.The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result. I don't think I can do it any more. I can stop the pain by not following the Dees. Life would be better.

[jazza 1,323]

I'm done. Been great guys. Not torturing myself any more.

Not at the moment OD. Thats true.

But I want some sports passion in my life. I was thrilled when Daniel Ricciardo came 2nd in the Melb grand prix. I was thrilled when Adam Scott won the masters. I was thrilled when my kids won their GFs.

The MFC have given me nothing but hurt and heartache of the 8th yr in a row.The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result. I don't think I can do it any more. I can stop the pain by not following the Dees. Life would be better.

no,not you. some of us rely on your spirit to clock in here and your smart evaluations of the game.

i can handle the plebs deserting,but not you.

please stay on board,for the sake of the posters that enjoy your thinking and post game comments.

[Redleg 38,194]

I am no longer angry - sad and uninterested.

It is hard not to agree.

I dislike Carlton intensely and yesterday someone asked me if I was happy they were being belted by the Bombers. My answer was simply I don't care anymore.

Because we are so bad and can't win a game, there is no pleasure or interest in another teams misfortune. I just couldn't care less.

The next step is just not caring about us either. Football interest and passion gets sucked out of you after 8 years of pathetic performance.

We have a big job ahead of us to resurrect this side, though, it can be done with some help.

PS. I haven't taken that next step yet.

Edited April 6, 2014 by Redleg

[La Dee-vina Comedia 16,534]

im the same tbh.

now they have got rid of rewarding the person trying to make the play/get to the ball first (ie sliding rule when youre just going for the ball, holding the ball when you get jumped on by 3 guys straight away) and the bump ive lost a lot of interest.

also the competition is nowhere near equal anymore - gone are the days where you didnt know who was going to win on any given day - might be a couple of games a round that are hard to decide.

The slide rule was introduced as a player safety measure to stop leg injuries. But it has actually improved the game because players stay on their feet so there is less of the 'rolling maul' play.

The holding the ball rule stops players pulling the ball in under them which causes ugly stoppages. If players would learn not to drag the ball in, they wouldn't get caught holding the ball.

The bump had to go for the long term health of the players.

Do those three rules make the games different? Yes. Does it make them worse. The first two definitely make it better. The third makes it less spectacular - but I can live with that if it means the long term health of the players is significantly enhanced.

[old dee 23,118]

Not at the moment OD. Thats true.

But I want some sports passion in my life. I was thrilled when Daniel Ricciardo came 2nd in the Melb grand prix. I was thrilled when Adam Scott won the masters. I was thrilled when my kids won their GFs.

The MFC have given me nothing but hurt and heartache of the 8th yr in a row.The definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing and expecting a different result. I don't think I can do it any more. I can stop the pain by not following the Dees. Life would be better.

I think you are on the right track jnr.

I honestly had a good time yesterday watching Casey and this morning I have little concern for what the MFC did in Sydney.

Have not read match reports or anything to do with the game on Demonland.

If we folded next week it would honestly be only a small ripple in my life.

Suggestion pick a reasonable side in your area under AFL level and go to a game

I reckon you will have fun and that is supposed to be what going to the footy is about.

Not the crap we have had to endure for the last decade.

Edited April 6, 2014 by old dee

[Damo 3,030]

Its almost like we now have been conditioned to not care any more.

I hear unthinking smarties say things like "oh melbourne supporters desert in droves" when in fact we have been strong and resilient for many many years.

My whole life I have hung on. Only late 80's and early 90's were we strong. We werent really good enough in 2000 to be there but we got there.

The way this club and the AFL goes about its business, it will be way too late for the large mass of supporters before anything really happens.